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Abu Dhabi / WAM Dr Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, reaffirmed the UAE’s supportive stance for UN resolutions on Libya and the world organisation’s call for Libyan parties to engage in a ceasefire, end escalation, and commit to international efforts for a peaceful settlement. This came as the UAE minister participated in a ministerial meeting …

Bloomberg The World Trade Organisation (WTO) offered a less gloomy projection for this year’s decline in global trade while noting that downside risks remain if resurging outbreaks of Covid-19 stall the economic recovery. The WTO said it expects global merchandise trade to fall by 9.2% this year from 2019, compared with the 12.9% drop projected in April, according to revised …

Bloomberg Oil rises further after the biggest gain since May on growing optimism for more US fiscal stimulus and as President Donald Trump left hospital following treatment for Covid-19. Futures added 1.2%, following Monday’s surge above $39 a barrel. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will resume talks on another round of pandemic relief funding, but there’s …

Bloomberg Business activity in the Arab world’s three largest economies returned to growth, with Egypt seeing its first expansion in 14 months. After a deterioration in August, the non-oil private sectors improved last month as companies adjusted to economic challenges of the global pandemic while governments eased restrictions put in place to stop the coronavirus. A measure of non-oil private …

Bloomberg India’s delay in appointing a new central bank committee to decide interest rates is just the latest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s key economic reforms that are failing to gain traction during the nation’s worst crisis in decades. Three of his major policies — the goods and services tax, a bankruptcy and insolvency law and the Monetary Policy Committee …

Manama / Emirates Business Trade between the UAE and Bahrain returned to levels not seen since before the Covid-19 pandemic, with new figures revealing $936 million in bi-lateral commerce during the first half of this year. June’s figures showed the positive economic impact of support measures on the economies of both kingdoms, with trade returning to $139.6 million — the …

Bloomberg Libya’s oil output has risen to 295,000 barrels following a truce in the Opec nation’s civil war and the lifting of a blockade on energy facilities. Fields that feed the newly restarted eastern ports of Hariga, Brega and Zueitina are ramping up production, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Output was 250,000 barrels a day a …

New Delhi / WAM Even as India extended the ban on regular, scheduled international air travel until October 31, the Minister of Civil Aviation, Hardeep Singh Puri, said he expected international flights to be fully operational by the first quarter of 2021. In a series of media interactions, including a conversation with the Emirates New Agency (WAM), the minister anticipated …

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia added new incentives to keep its mortgage boom going by scrapping a 15% value-added tax on property sales and offering other relief for home buyers amid a push by the Arab world’s largest economy to expand residential ownership. Property transactions will instead be subject to a new 5% real estate sales tax, according to state-run news agency …

Bloomberg Oil falls in New York and the global benchmark Brent plummeted to the lowest level since June after President Donald Trump’s positive Covid-19 diagnosis combined with labour market weakness heightened concerns over an economic recovery. US crude futures declined 4.3% and Brent slid below $40 a barrel in volatile trading. A top World Health Organisation (WHO) official said the …